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Thursday, August 14, 2014

2 comments:

Rebecca, first know that you’re not alone. Children with autism are five times more likely to have mealtime challenges such as extremely narrow food selections, ritualistic eating behaviors (e.g. no foods can touch) and meal-related tantrums.

This is a link to the autism speaks website with a "toolkit" for siblings of a child with autism. It might be useful for the other kids in the house.

I tell the parents of kids with autism that I work with the following things concerning eating issues:

#1 Rule Out Medical Problems

Gastrointestinal distress is common among children with autism, many of whom can’t easily describe their distress.

#2

Many children need to taste a food more than a dozen times before they’re willing to eat it without a fuss. Children with autism-related sensitivities can take longer. Be patient as your child explores and samples new foods. If your child continues to reject a food even after a dozen-plus tries, perhaps he just doesn’t like it. Consider trying a different food. Above all, don’t let mealtime become a family battleground. Instead, get creative.

#3 Take Steps Toward Tasting

Many individuals with autism are afraid to try new things. Help your child explore a new food by looking at it, touching it and smelling it. When he’s ready for a taste, he can try giving the food “a kiss” or licking it before putting a whole bite into his mouth. Sometimes, mixing a new food with a favorite one can help.

#4 Tune into Textures

Autism often comes with hypersensitivity to textures. So remember that it may be how a food feels in the mouth, rather than its flavor, that produces a food aversion. The squishiness of a fresh tomato is a classic example. Try chopping or blending such foods to smooth out the offending texture. That tomato, for example, can be chopped into salsa or blended and cooked into pasta sauce.

#5 Play with New Food

That’s right. Playing with a new food is another way to build familiarity and decrease mealtime anxiety. Together, try painting with pasta sauce. Use spaghetti noodles to make shapes, letters, or other designs. Use veggies to make faces on pizza. Use cookie cutters to cut sandwiches into fun shapes. While you’re playing, let your child see you taste — and enjoy — the food.

#6 Offer Choices and Control

Your loved one with autism may need to feel some control over what she puts into her mouth. It’s also okay to simply not like some foods. So try to offer a broad variety and allow choices within the categories you care about. For example, you might decide that your child needs to have one serving of vegetables and one of protein for dinner. So put a few types of these foods on the table and allow your child to choose at least one vegetable and one protein. Along the same lines, if you’re making a favorite dish such as pasta, ask your child to add one mystery ingredient for other family members to discover during the meal. He gets to choose: corn, broccoli or chicken?

It is surprising how much playing with food helps some kids become more comfortable and less afraid of it.

Also, I would just like to say that it seems like you are doing a great job parenting a child with autism.

Me: My name is Rebekah. I am a child of the most high God and the mother to six precious children, four of which I parent, one who went to be with Jesus at six weeks gestation, and the last one (sweet Tyrus) who I relinquished to adoption. This blog highlights all the good the bad and the ugly parts of being a single mom and also a birth mom. Truth be told, I'm just a sinner saved by grace, and I have made a lot of mistakes, but its all about counting the cost and moving on and making life better, because life is good....really really good.

Chelsea: My firstborn. She was born with a crooked nose and a personality that caught every ones attention. She is independent, and loving, and very girly. Give her some hairspray and some makeup and a pair of skinny jeans and she is happy. Thankfully her nose straightened out but the rest of her stayed the same...I'm so glad.

Victoria: My second born. Thoughtful, serious and beautiful are words that sum up Victoria since she was born. It took a lot to make her smile as a baby but when she did it lit up the room. Now that she is older she is still serious, but also very loving and likes to kiss my cheek all the time. She is sneaky yet likes to please. She loves animals and I wouldn't be surprised if she became an animal activist some day.

Matthew: My third born. Movin Movin Movin would describe Matt exactly. He is just a bundle full of energy. He doesn't like video games or TV, he would rather be outside throwing a football or riding his bike. He is all boy. He is my fix it kid. Give him a screw driver and he will figure it out.

Skyler: My fourth born. The baby of the family is exactly what little Sky is. I think he knows this and plays all of us for all we are worth. Trouble would be the word I would use to describe him. Don't leave him alone for a minute or he will be playing cars through a pile of flour in my living room. Even though he is into everything, he is such a sweetheart and we all love him very much.